Senior Exhibition artist Emma Stevens-Smith ’12

“Zoe” by Emma Stevens-Smith ’12, india ink on paper.

Stevens-Smith of San Francisco exploits an intentional loss of the comfort she finds in control.

Working from photographs, she works fluidly to create portraits from “unpredictable rivulets” of ink on colored paper. Using ink, she says, enabled her “to capture the essence of an individual in broad strokes and unforeseen lines.” She adds, “I force myself to work quickly — I don’t want to fixate and I’m eager to see the final product.”